Portuguese literature is the literature written in the Portuguese language, particularly by citizens of Portugal; it may also refer to literature written by people living in Portugal, Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, and other Portuguese speaking countries.
Examples
An early example of Portuguese literature is the tradition of a medieval Galician-Portuguese poetry. This tradition developed in Galicia and northern Portugal.
The literature of Portugal is told apart by several aspects: a variety of lyric poetry, historical writing recording Portugal's rulers, conquests, and expansion by the Golden Age of the Renaissance period. On this period we find several of the most famous Portuguese writers such as Gil Vicente, Bernardim Ribeiro, Sá de Miranda and especially Luís de Camões, author of the national and epic poem Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads).
History
The seventeenth century is generally seen as the century of literary decadence, despite the existence of writers like Father António Vieira, Padre Manuel Bernardes and Francisco Rodrigues Lobo.
The writers of the eighteenth century tried to oppose a certain decadence of the baroque stage by making an effort to recover the level of quality reached during the Golden Age. This was done through the creation of academies and literary Arcadias - it was the time of Neoclassicism. In the nineteenth century, the neoclassical ideals were abandoned, where Almeida Garrett introduced Romanticism, followed by Alexandre Herculano and Camilo Castelo Branco.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Realism (of naturalistic features) developed in novel-writing, whose exponents included Eça de Queiroz and Ramalho Ortigão. Literary trends during the twentieth century are represented mainly by Fernando Pessoa, believed one of the greatest national poets together with Camões. In later years, we can see the development of prose fiction, thanks to authors such as António Lobo Antunes and José Saramago, winner of the Nobel prize for Literature.
Some of the most important books of the Portuguese literature
Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões (1524-1580) Livro do Desassossego by Fernando Pessoa Sermões by Padre António Vieira Os Maias by Eça de Queirós Cancioneiros Medievais (Cantigas de Amigo e de Amor)
Crónica de D. João I, Fernão Lopes
Peregrinação, Fernão Mendes Pinto
Memorial do Convento, José Saramago
Viagens na Minha Terra, Almeida Garrett
A Brasileira de Prazins, Camilo Castelo Branco
Sôbolos Rios que Vão, António Lobo Antunes
A Sibila, Agustina Bessa-Luís
Sonetos, Antero de Quental
Húmus, Raul Brandão
Livro Sexto, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
Menina e Moça, Bernardim Ribeiro
Mau Tempo no Canal, Vitorino Nemésio
A Arte de Ser Português, Teixeira de Pascoaes
A Casa Grande de Romarigães, Aquilino Ribeiro
Sinais de Fogo, Jorge de Sena
Aparição, Vergílio Ferreira Aparição
O Delfim, José Cardoso Pires
Uma Abelha na Chuva, Carlos de Oliveira
Maina Mendes, Maria Velho da Costa
Uma Viagem à Índia, Gonçalo M. Tavares
Poetry
Obra Poética, Sá de Miranda
Poesia, Bocage
O Livro, Cesário Verde
Só, António Nobre
Clepsidra, Camilo Pessanha
Poemas de Deus e do Diabo, José Régio
As Mãos e os Frutos, Eugénio de Andrade
Pena Capital, Mário Cesariny
A Colher na Boca, Herberto Helder
Toda a Terra, Ruy Belo
Theatre
O Auto da Barca do Inferno, Gil Vicente
A Castro, António Ferreira
Auto do Fidalgo Aprendiz, Francisco Manuel de Melo
Guerras de Alecrim e Manjerona, António José da Silva
O Judeu, Bernardo Santareno
Essay
Leal Conselheiro, Rei D. Duarte
Quod nihil scitur, Francisco Sanches
O Verdadeiro Método de Estudar, Luís António Verney
Portugal Contemporâneo, Oliveira Martins
A Ideia de Deus, Sampaio Bruno
Ensaios, António Sérgio
Ir À Índia Sem Sair de Portugal, Agostinho da Silva
O Labirinto da Saudade, Eduardo Lourenço
Tratado da Evidência, Fernando Gil
O Erro de Descartes, António Damásio
References
Writings on the subject
Parkinson, Stephen, Cláudia Pazos Alonso, and T. F. Earle, eds. A Companion to Portuguese Literature. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer, 2009.